His Walls 2 point 0
by J-leeDixon
Summary: A continuation of the AU-Part of the original "His Walls". Instead of jumping into the ZA in chapter 22, we stay AU with 20-year old Daryl and 19-year old Bay. Strong M rating for smut, language, adult topics. Daryl Dixon/OC, AU- no zombies
1. Chapter 1

**This is the continuation of the AU-Part of the original His Walls. It picks up near the end of chapter 21. **

**In the original His Walls I jumped into the ZA in chapter 22, but I can't do that right now. The midseason finale ruined everything. I need to stay in the AU setting to make Daryl and myself happy. Sorry. Hope you enjoy anyway.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 1<span>**

"_She's gone, D... She's dead... She ended it herself... Found her things on Murray Bridge... she jumped."_ Patrick's words had echoed inside his head in an endless loop while Daryl had laid on the ground, out in that field, freezing half to death. He must have blacked out at one point. Whether he had gone into shock or had lost consciousness, he didn't know, but as soon as he came to, he only had one thought in his head: _Ain't true. It can't be. She wouldn't off herself. Never. Found her things, but didn't find her. She's alive. She's around here somewhere and Imma find her. _

Daryl struggled to get up from the ground, his limbs were extremely stiff from the cold. His teeth were chattering, and as soon as he was on his feet, he got back into his truck and revved the engine, turning on the heating right after. He rubbed his palms together and moved his fingers, making a fist repeatedly, until he had some feeling back in them. He pulled his car back on the road and headed back to Dalton. He would need a phone book and a phone, and honestly, a place to warm up. There was only one place to go, and he hoped to God that he wouldn't get the door slammed in his face, even though he definitely deserved it.

Twenty minutes later he parked his old, beat-up truck in front of the familiar building. He was nervous, but that didn't keep him from going inside. He grabbed his duffel bag from the backseat and entered the building, going up the stairs until he reached the right floor. Another nervous flutter went through him right before he knocked, and his stomach dropped to the floor when the door opened and he looked shyly at the surprised expression of his former best friend. Patrick let out a sarcastic laugh and shook his head in an incredulous manner. "Lemme guess... Need a place to stay?"

"Need your help." Daryl stopped chewing on his bottom lip for a second in order to get the words out. "Need to use your phone."

Pat stared at him for a moment, his whole posture tense. He studied Daryl and noticed that the left side of his clothes was wet and dirty. He looked pale, almost blue, and seemed to be shaking slightly. Patrick released a deep sigh and relaxed. Taking a step back, he shook his head again. "You got some nerve, dude."

"I know... I'm sorry." Daryl mumbled, clutching the strap of his duffel bag tighter with his right hand.

"Alright... come in. But you're gonna tell me everything. Why you left, what happened between you and Bay... everything. Understood?" Patrick would love to just turn Daryl away, give him a taste of his own medicine, but he couldn't. Daryl was his brother, he loved him like one. Patrick thought that he had moved on, along with the rest of his friends, but now that Daryl was standing in front of him, he realized that he had really fucking missed him, and was actually happy to have him back, even if it might just be temporary.

"Yeah... deal." Daryl nodded and finally stepped inside the apartment. Patrick eyed the wet clothes again, while Daryl dropped his bag by the couch.

"You sleep outside last night?"

"Kinda... "

"Go ahead, take a hot shower, man. I'll make some coffee. Then we talk." Patrick told him and lightly slapped his hand down on Daryl's shoulder in passing. Daryl was a mess. Not surprising. The dude had just learned that his ex-girlfriend had killed herself. Everybody had cried and had felt shitty when they had heard, so Patrick was sure Daryl was breaking apart on the inside. Once again, he wished he would be able to retaliate a little for Daryl having neglected them all, but he just didn't have it in him to kick someone, who was about to hit rock bottom.

Daryl nodded quickly, a grateful look passing over his features before he shed his half-wet coat, looking around a little helplessly, trying to find a place to put it.

"Gimme." Patrick took it and hung it up by the door. Daryl crouched by his duffel bag and got out dry clothes with Pat watching him, who cleared his throat. "Well, I'll get the coffee started... you know where everything is."

Daryl left for the small bathroom, and a couple of minutes later he stepped underneath the heavenly hot water. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, letting the water wash over his face, letting it warm him up from head to toe. He also felt internal warmth creep back into him. For months he had felt empty and cold without his Bay. When Patrick had told him she was dead, everything inside of him had frozen into solid ice, but now he felt better. He knew she wasn't dead, he felt it, and the determination to find her fueled him and let the warmth seep back in. He would need to be on top of his game in order to find her.

Once he was warm, he washed up, then he got out and quickly dried and dressed himself. Patrick and a steaming hot mug of coffee were waiting for him. Pat was lounging in his recliner, just as usual, and it felt kind of comforting to Daryl.

"Heated up some pizza. Figured you didn't eat yet."

"Thanks." Daryl mumbled and quickly dug in. He was starving.

"Now tell me. What the fuck happened, dude? Why'd you leave? Bay said she didn't know. That you were just gone when she came home one day."

"Yeah... that's true... Merle, he showed up at work, missing a damn finger. Telling me about how he fucked up..." Daryl proceeded to tell Pat the whole story, he just kept talking and talking, like a tight knot inside of him was loosening and everything that had been held in was bubbling out. It felt good to talk to someone about it. It felt good talking to Pat. He hadn't just missed Bay, he had missed all of them, his whole life he'd had, as shitty as it might have been at times. "I thought I was doing the right thing, man. I thought I was keeping her safe... Now... I don't know. I think he lied. Once we were out of town, he never once watched his back or was scared that the damn Mexicans would come after him. I didn't realize it at first... I was a mess, dude. Drunk or stoned out of my mind, trying to forget..."

"I'm pretty sure he lied. It's what he does, D. He wanted you away from Bay and all to himself. Everybody knew that. You're the only one who didn't want to see it. Maybe he lost that finger in a whole 'nother way. Maybe he cut it off himself." Pat scoffed, not buying Merle's reason for skipping town for a second. "I got a question, D... Did Merle have money?"

Daryl frowned. "Money? Yeah, sure... " he thought it was a weird question of Pat to ask, but suddenly realization struck him, that Merle had indeed had quite a lot of money, judging by how many drugs he had been able to buy and the kind of house they had been able to afford. Daryl felt like vomiting when the truth hit him. Merle had gotten all of Daryl's stuff out of Bay's apartment, which meant... "Shit... no... It was... Bay's?!"

"Erin told me that Bay had money saved up for college. She also told me that Bay told her that it was all gone, along with your belongings. I never believed that you took it. That's not you. But then again, I never thought you'd just leave like that, either, and I was wrong. I didn't know what to believe anymore to be honest. I always wanted to believe that there had to be a good explanation for all of it, but it didn't look like there was. It was tough, man. On all of us. Especially on Bay. She just crumbled. You really fucked up, D." Patrick mumbled almost absently, his voice sad as he remembered how broken Bay had been at the end, shortly before she died.

Daryl's heart ached in his chest when he learned how Bay had suffered from his mistake. He couldn't believe that he had let Merle screw up his life again. _Never again. Can't ever happen again. That prick's gotta rot in hell for what he did. He took everything from both of us, and I fucking let him. _Facing Bay after all of this would be one of the hardest things he'd ever done, but he wouldn't run away. Not this time. "I know I fucked up. Most I ever fucked up my entire life... But Imma make it right."

"Make it right? How do you wanna do that? There ain't even a grave where you can go to and apologize."

"See? Exactly. There ain't no fucking grave. No body. She ain't gone, Pat." Daryl said decisively.

Pat rubbed his temples, a deep sigh leaving his body. _Great. He's in denial. Awesome._"Daryl, she is gone. I'm serious. There was blood and her bag with clothes, pictures, her wallet, ID, everything..."

"Yeah, and what does that tell you? Why would she take clothes and pictures and all that shit with her, if she just wanted to jump? And how much blood was there? Enough for her to have slit her wrists? Was there a blade of some kind around? Was there enough blood to verify that she might have bled out? Or just enough for a fucking nosebleed? Did they prove that it was even hers?" Daryl shot off question after question. Pat wanted to roll his eyes at first, try to talk him out of believing this nonsense, but the more Daryl talked, the more he got to thinking. Daryl had a point. Why would she bring a bag with her belongings if she just wanted to end it? Why hadn't there been a body? The river isn't that big. She would have washed up by now. Pat had no idea if the police had ever tested the blood or shit like that. Him, Erin and the rest of their friends had driven out to that bridge to put some flowers down, but he couldn't remember seeing any blood on the street at that point. Bay had no next of kin, Daryl and Erin had been her emergency contacts, which is why Erin had been notified once they had found the bag, because Daryl had been gone, too. They had turned Bay's stuff over to her and everyone had accepted what had happened. It had seemed plausible with what they had seen Bay go through. Nobody had really asked any more questions.

"I don't know, D... They just said she jumped, and we believed it. We had no reason not to believe it." Pat said, a frown marring his features while he kept thinking about it.

"But it's weird, ain't it? The whole thing... I know her, Pat. She wouldn't kill herself. Never. She never wanted to be like her parents."

"You didn't see her, D. She was broken. She didn't leave her place no more. She stayed in bed, not working, not eating, not drinking. Erin and I had to hold her down and practically force a glass of water into her, dude. She wasn't the girl ya knew no more."

Daryl swallowed hard at that. It was hard to imagine his vibrant, happy girl like that. "Shit... but still... she wouldn't have done it. Maybe she just tried to leave town. Start fresh somewhere else, I dunno."

"Even if that's true, something happened which made her leave her stuff behind on that bridge. Probably nothing good..." Pat trailed off, implying that she might be dead anyway, even if it wasn't by her own hand.

"She ain't gone. She just ain't. I'm gonna find her." Daryl vowed fiercely.

"D... " Patrick rubbed his tired face. "How do you wanna do that? There's no place to even start looking. Cops think she's dead too, remember?"

"Cops don't know everything. I need to use your phone. I'm gonna call all damn hospitals and police departments in a hundred mile radius. Ask around if Bay was there or maybe any Jane Doe's, matching her looks. Ask the cops in other cities... Maybe file a missing persons report, then they will have to look into it, right?" Daryl had already planned it out on his way over to Pat's.

"I don't know... maybe. It's been two months, who knows how much or how little effort they would actually put into helping you find a person that's been assumed to be dead for the past eight weeks." Pat pointed out.

"I gotta try. It's worth a shot. Someone's gotta know something. Nobody just vanishes like that."

"Actually,... people do that all the time, D."

"Not her. I tell ya, Pat. No matter how hurt she was... she wouldn't give up like that. She always fights her way back on top. Always."

"While that might be true... You still have to keep in mind that something definitely happened on that bridge. We don't know what, but you gotta prepare yourself for the worst. She might still be gone. You might not like what ya find out, dude. Maybe someone knows something, but maybe it's only that she died for real. You gotta be aware of that." Pat warned him. He was still torn on the whole thing. He thought if she was still alive, Bay would have let at least Erin know that she was not dead. That she had just needed to get away to start new somewhere else.

Daryl didn't want to think about a negative outcome. It wasn't an option. He wasn't sure if he would survive if he would get absolute certainty that she was indeed dead. However, it wouldn't stop him from looking into her disappearance. Nothing would stop him from finding out what happened. "I just need to find out the truth. I just gotta." Daryl told him before he took the last sip of his coffee. "You uuumm... You said Erin got Bay's stuff?"

"Yeah."

"She still have it?"

"I think so. Yeah." Patrick replied. He was pretty sure that he knew what Daryl would be asking next.

"Do you think... think she'd give me the bag?" Daryl asked in a mumble, barely stopping chewing his lip while he talked.

"I don't know. She's not your biggest fan anymore. In her mind you helped kill her best friend... I can talk to her, but don't expect her to hand it over to you." Patrick told him and watched Daryl lower his head in guilt. It was obvious that Daryl truly was sorry for all the shit he had caused, but it seemed right that he would have to suffer through some consequences for it.

"Okay. Thanks." Daryl said and Pat took it as confirmation that Daryl wanted him to talk to Erin.

"Yeah, don't thank me yet. What's the plan now? You gon' stay?"

"Yeah... if that's okay?" Daryl looked up timidly at his best friend.

"It's alright... but just like before, ya gotta pitch in. Especially if you're gonna rack up the phone bill."

"I will... pitch in, I mean. Ain't expecting charity."

"Are you expecting friendship?" Pat asked him outright.

"Gonna make it up to you, too. All of you. I promise. I wanna try to get my job back... Need my life back..."

"Ain't gonna be easy, I can tell you that right now. But I'm guessing you already know that."

"I know."

"Alright." Pat got out of his recliner and stretched. "I gotta head out. Phone is yours."

"Thanks. Uummm... I might need to head out... "

Pat knew what Daryl meant, and with a nod, he walked over to the shelf where his keys laid, and removed the second set of keys from the keyring. "Here."

"Thanks."

"Don't fuck up again." Pat said seriously, then he grabbed his own jacket and left. He had things to do and people to inform about what was happening.

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><p>As soon as Daryl was left to his own devices, he didn't know what to do first. He would need money for gas and food and the phone bill, so finding a job should be first on his list. He would have loved to get started calling hospitals right away, but he knew that he had to do this right, and also, he didn't want to rip off Pat. He went to leave, but his jacket was still wet. He didn't want to get cold again, so he quickly went back to his bag, and put on two more sweaters. It was March, close to spring, but it was still pretty chilly during the day, especially in the mornings, like now. Soon, he was on his way, though, seeking out his old boss, the cabinet maker. He was more than just a little surprised to see Daryl in his shop. Of course he had always wondered what the hell had happened and why Daryl had taken off in the middle of the day. Now, he got his explanation, and while he might have been kind of understanding, he still wasn't able to take Daryl back on. The position had been filled by somebody else in the meantime. However, he pointed Daryl back in the direction of John, the carpenter who had recommended Daryl to him in the first place. He had taken on a couple more bigger project and might have work for Daryl. So that's where he went next. He was in luck. John was so swamped with work that he gladly took Daryl back on for as long as he was needed. Actually, John made him start right away, which was extremely good money-wise, but bad in the sense, that it threw a big wrench in Daryl's search plans. Now he wouldn't be able to start calling around right away, but at least he would be able to send some money Pat's way on Friday.<p>

So he worked, but during his lunch break he went back to his truck and pulled out a map and the piece of paper and the pen he had been able to get from John. He started writing down the names of all kinds of towns nearby, which might be big enough to have a hospital. All he had to do later was call Directory Assistance and find out which towns actually had hospitals, their the phone number and exact locations. It would be tedious work, but he couldn't wait to start. After work he bought dinner for himself and Patrick with some of the last cash he had left, and as soon as he was back at the apartment, he grabbed the phone and his sheet of paper and went to work.

The whole thing took up more time than he'd anticipated, and he had to accept that he hadn't been able to find out anything, except for phone numbers and locations, after the first day. He was ready to hit the sack and start fresh the next day, when Pat came home late at night, and he wasn't alone... Daryl stared at Erin and Sam with wide eyes, before he quickly lowered his gaze to the floor. Awkward silence settled over the group for a moment, until Pat cleared his throat. "Eerrm... Erin wanted to talk to you herself..."

Daryl nodded and looked up at the tiny blonde nervously. "Hey..."

Erin had tears in her eyes. Seeing Daryl brought up all kinds of emotions inside of her, and they weren't necessarily positive ones. Patrick had told her everything that Daryl had told him, and just like it had done for Pat, Daryl's reasoning had raised enough doubt about Bay's apparent suicide in Erin's and Sam's heads, that they wanted to hear him out. "I want to hurt you so much right now." Erin's voice was breaking as a tear spilled down her cheek.

"You have every reason to." Daryl said ruefully. "All of you have every reason to. I was a fucking moron. I thought I was doing what's best for her..."

"You didn't." Sam told him with a stern look on his face. "You did the absolute worst thing for her."

"I know that now. That's why I came back. I'm gonna make it right. All of it." Daryl promised, but he was able to see that they didn't believe him.

Erin swallowed down her anger and disappointment to address the more pressing matter at hand. "You really think that she's still alive?"

"I do. You know her, too. You know she would never kill herself."

"You weren't here, Daryl. She was ready to die... She would have starved if we hadn't downright force-fed her." Erin pressed out as her eyes got misty again. The memories were hard to take.

"No... she would have fought through before that would have happened. She would have kicked her own ass back into gear. And I think she has. I think she just tried to leave town. If she took a bag... it makes no sense if she wanted to die. Why pack a bag and take it with ya?" Daryl argued.

"You mean this bag?" Erin asked, pointing at the black duffel bag Sam was holding up in that moment.

Daryl's breath hitched when he laid eyes on it. It contained the possibly last things Bay had left behind and that fact made his heart stop beating for a couple of seconds. "Can I...? Please..."

Erin nodded, and Sam handed over the bag to Daryl. He put it across his lap and slowly slid the zipper open. His heart clenched painfully when his nose caught a hint of Bay's familiar smell. He recognized the clothes at first glance. He'd held her countless times while she had worn these clothes, he had stripped them off of her beautiful body countless times, as well. He touched the black, soft sweater, which was laying right at the top, almost reverently, before he fisted the material in his right hand, as if grabbing the material as hard as he possibly could, would make him be able to hold on to her and magically pull her back to him. His knuckles brushed something with a slightly sharp edge, making Daryl stick his left hand inside the back and pull the object out. It wasn't just one object, though. It was several... Several pictures of them. Smiling at each other, cuddling, kissing... Daryl had to bite his tongue painfully hard in order to keep in a sob. His eyes watered, turning his vision cloudy and blurry. He missed her so damn much, it hurt like a motherfucker. He missed those times and he couldn't believe that he had seriously been stupid enough to give it up. For Merle. In that moment he knew, that if she really turned out to be dead, he might just be ready to follow her, because nothing would ever be as good again as the life he'd had with Bay.

"So... what are you doing? Pat said something about calling every hospital in the area?" Erin gingerly sat down next to him.

"Yeah, that's the plan. It's a start. If she was at one of these hospitals, we know where to keep looking."

"What if the hospitals are a bust? And she has never been in one?" Erin asked, bringing up a valid point.

"I dunno. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now I need to do this. Check hospitals and the PD's... In case her... her b-" Daryl had a hard time getting the words out. They were making his stomach turn upside down. "In case her body turned up somewhere else."

"Anything we can do to help?"

"Nah... I need to do this by myself. But maybe... dunno."

"What?" Erin pressed him for an answer.

"I'm working all day... John, the guy Pat and I used to work for last year, he took me back on... finding out phone numbers takes forever. Maybe ya can help with getting the numbers to the hospitals? Find out where hospitals are in the first place." That would actually help him tremendously, if he would only have to worry about calling the hospitals at night after work, instead of going back and forth between calling Directory Assistance and calling the hospitals.

"Okay. It's my day off tomorrow. I can be on the phone all day. Or better yet, I'll go to that internet cafe. Internet search might for numbers and addresses might be faster and I might get you more results by tomorrow night." Erin agreed.

"I'll help, too. Ain't got anything to do tomorrow. We can split the list of cities between us, maybe we'll be able to get you all the info you'll need." Sam pitched in.

"That's awesome." Daryl looked at them gratefully, but he was still met with hard looks.

"That doesn't mean that we're friends again, Daryl. We're doing this for Bay." Erin told him straight up. "You can keep one of the pictures, but I'm taking the bag home with me again."

"Fair enough." Daryl nodded. He knew it would take more than this to get back in his friends' good graces, but he was grateful that they had agreed to help him. This way this whole thing would be resolved a whole lot faster. Or so he hoped.

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><p>The next day they all went to work. Sam and Erin spent almost all day at the internet cafe, gathering information, while Patrick called Directory Assistance several times and wrote down some numbers and addresses as well. When Daryl got off work, he just quickly stuffed his face with a TV dinner, then he grabbed the pages his friends had supplied him with. He called hospital after hospital, talking himself hoarse over the course of a couple of hours. Around eight pm he took a break, making himself a coffee and enjoying it with a smoke, before he went back to work. Next on his list was the Gordon Hospital Calhoun, in Calhoun. He hesitated for a moment. Calhoun was just half an hour away. If she would have been in a hospital that close, someone must have known or let the police know. He thought about branching out further, calling hospitals further away first from now on, but the list wasn't sorted by distance. It wasn't sorted at all, and looking through it and deciding which hospitals to call first would take up even more time. No, he would just work through the lists one by one, so Gordon Hospital in Calhoun it was.<p>

"Hi, I need your help. My girlfriend has been missing for a couple of weeks. The police around here assumed that she killed herself, but me and my friends don't think it's true. We think that she maybe might have been in an accident, so I'm calling all the hospitals in the area to get a lead on where she might have been and where she might be now."

"_Okay, what do you need to know?" _the female voice on the other end of the line asked.

"I need to know if she was in your hospital in the past two months. Her name is Bayanne Moore." Daryl replied. He heard typing, just like the dozen times before when he had made the same call, and he waited, already expecting the answer 'no' to come over the line.

"_Bayanne Moore?"_

"Yeah. B-A-Y-A-N-N-E M-O-O-R-E." Daryl spelled it out, just like another dozen times before.

"_Well young man,..." _the woman started and Daryl was ready to hang up, expecting another negative answer._ "We have a female patient with that name. She has been with us for two months... Can you tell me her birthday for confirmation, please?"_

Daryl's stomach dropped to the floor as all air rushed out of his lungs. _They have her name in the computer? She's really... Imma see her again?! _"You... you do...? You... Yeah... 3rd July 1979." he quickly replied.

"_I think you just found your girlfriend." _the nurse sounded pretty elated. _"__After two months... Wow, you must have been worried sick. And the police just assumed she committed suicide?"_

"Yeah... just tell me... Can you tell me if she's okay?" Daryl had no patience for the chatty nurse. Fear spiked inside of him once again, when her words registered. She had been there for two months. That's an awful long time to spend in a hospital.

"_She is not in critical condition, but that's all I can tell you except for her room number."_

"Yes! Tell me!" Daryl said urgently. He was already on his feet and grabbing his jacket.

"_Bayanne Moore, Room 205."_

"Thanks." Daryl hung up right away and was out the door less than a minute later. He sprinted down to his truck and took off with screeching tires towards the Wal Mart parking lot. _I knew it. I fucking knew it. My girl is strong. She would never kill herself. I knew it. _He didn't bother with parking or getting out of the car. He just rolled down the window as soon as he came to a halt next to his former group of friends, who looked at him with wide eyes. He hadn't even realized that he was out of breath and that his cheeks were wet, because a couple of tears had spilled out over the relief of hearing that she was truly alive. "I found her. She's alive. She's in a hospital in Calhoun." he breathlessly told Erin, watching her jaw drop. Hope shone in her eyes, as well as fresh tears.

"She is? You really found her? Are you sure it's her?" Along with Erin's voice, he was also able to pick up some incredulous 'fucks' and 'holy shits'. Everyone was stunned. Calhoun was really close. If anyone of them would have bothered to ask some questions, get the police to investigate...

"Same birthday and she's been there two months, but not in critical condition. I'm going there right now. Got the room number and everything." Daryl was smiling and Erin couldn't help but smile along with him through her tears. She walked around the truck and opened the passenger door.

"I'm coming with you!"

"If you're going, I'm going." Sam piped up and quickly got into the backseat.

"Hell, I'm coming too. I gotta see this." Patrick was not about to be left out. This was a small miracle and he had to see it with his own eyes.

As soon as the doors were closed, Daryl stepped on it and they took off towards Calhoun. It was only a 30 minute drive. It was unbelievable. She had been so close. Erin wondered why she hadn't reached out to anyone. She must have known that everybody would be devastated by her apparent death.

"And it's really her?" Pat asked, still too stunned to really believe it.

"It's gotta be. This close to Dalton, same name, same birthday, she's been there for two months... It's her." Daryl said with a grin. His heart was slamming against his ribcage in earnest. He wasn't even thinking about how mad and disappointed she might be at him at this point, all that counted was, that she was alive and that he would see her again and get a chance to apologize and make things right. He couldn't wait and so he stepped on the gas a little harder. Only 10 miles to go...

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>

**Tell me what you think about this "twist". Sorry to everyone who would have preferred to stay in the ZA. **


	2. Chapter 2

**All the hospital-stuff that's in here, I use what I know to be true in Germany. If things are being handled differently in the States, I am sorry for any inaccuracies.**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Daryl's plan had hit a little snag when they had arrived in Calhoun. In his hurry to get there, he had forgotten to write down the address of the hospital. They'd had to find someone on the street, who had been willing to give them directions. Of course the streets had been gloriously empty and Daryl had been tempted to just stop at the next house, bang the door down and ask the owners for directions. Thankfully they had found someone walking their dog, just before Daryl had lost his cool. It hadn't delayed their arrival at the hospital too much, but every single second wasted was one too many to Daryl right now. When he parked the car on the hospital parking lot, the next snag in the plan was brought up by Erin.

"Shit... did you look at the time? Visiting hours are over. We can't just march in there, straight into her room, and throw a small party." she said and made everybody freeze in their tracks in the process. Silence descended upon them, each of them trying to come up with a solution.

"We're just gonna explain how it is." Pat was the first one to speak again. "That we thought she was dead, that only her boyfriend returning and not believing she would kill herself made us look into it and that we just need to see if it's really her."

"You're gonna be a nurse, babe. Can't you work some nurse-to-nurse magic?" Sam asked his girlfriend.

"Pfff, I can try. Depends on what kind of nurse we're gonna encounter. A strict as hell one or a sympathetic, lenient one."

"I just wanna see if it's her, man." Daryl mumbled. "I just need to see. Then I'll sleep in the truck or the waiting room or whatever if I have to until visiting hours start up again."

"You have work tomorrow morning, Daryl. You can't stay away on the second day already." Erin reminded him, making him curse his job. She was right though. He couldn't lose that job or he'd be screwed and he'd have to get by, by painting numbers on sidewalks again.

"Okay, enough talking, let's find out if it's really her first, before we get depressed about maybe not getting to see her." Patrick said and got out of the car first. The others followed suit and they walked into the hospital, and started looking for room 205.

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><p>Of course a nurse stopped them very soon, asking what they were doing roaming around her floor and checking the plates with the room numbers next to every door.<p>

"We're looking for Bayanne Moore. We were told she's in room 205." Erin said with a polite smile.

The nurse frowned and looked at each of them for a moment. "Visiting hours are over. Who are you anyway?"

"We're her friends." Erin replied, and something seemed to change in the expression of the nurse, but Erin wasn't able to put her finger on it. "Please, I know visiting hours are over, but you don't understand. You see, this is her boyfriend..." Erin pointed at Daryl, "or ex-boyfriend... anyway, three months ago he left town with his brother and Bay was so distraught that she started wasting away. About two months ago I got a call from the police, telling me that a bag with her ID had been found on Murray Bridge outside of Dalton, and that it appeared that she had committed suicide. Both her parents had killed themselves, so it wasn't too far out there to think that she had done the same. We all believed it and the police didn't look into it any more." Erin kept talking when she noticed the expression of the nurse definitely softening by now. "Two days ago, Daryl came back for her. We told him what happened, but he didn't believe that she would kill herself, so he started calling hospitals trying to find out if maybe she had an accident and today he called here and found out you have a patient called Bayanne Moore, with the same birthday and who's been here ever since she's been 'dead'... Please, we just need to know if it's really her."

Nurse Nancy felt like hugging the three boys and the girl that were standing in front of her with hopeful and pleading expressions on their faces. Finally someone was coming for that sweet, but sad and lonely girl in room 205. Nancy had been working the night Bayanne had been brought in. Over the past two months, she had talked a lot with the young woman during her shifts. She knew that Bayanne was from Dalton, she knew the accident had occurred on Murray Bridge, she knew that she missed a boy named Daryl and her friend called Erin. Because of all the details the girl in front of her had given, Nurse Nancy knew, that these were indeed Bayanne's friends. Nancy had offered to reach out to her friends, but Bayanne had always declined. She always said that she was too scared of facing them after disappointing them and just leaving town, like Daryl had. She was afraid of being rejected and said that she wouldn't be able to handle them being mad at her, even though they had every right to be. Nancy had always told her that she was sure that her friends would forgive her eventually, that they would understand, and apparently, she had been right.

"Police said she committed suicide?" Nancy was outraged at that. "Without a body ever being found? Well that's great police work right there." she scoffed and shook her head. She was sure the friends would have come sooner if they had known that it had simply been an accident. Poor Bayanne wouldn't have had to be alone for so many weeks.

Daryl, Erin, Pat and Sam were getting impatient. They just wanted confimation on whether or not it was truly their Bay in that room. Daryl pulled the picture he had taken from the bag out of his pocket and showed it to the nurse. "Just tell us if it's her, please. We just need to know."

Nurse Nancy looked at the picture and her internal smile finally showed on the outside. Yes, that was her patient kissing the young man that kept shifting his weight anxiously where he stood. Daryl held his breath, the moment seemed to go on forever. He felt a smaller hand slip into his and grip it tightly. He looked down, seeing that Erin was the one who was squeezing his hand while she looked at the nurse just as anxiously as Daryl did.

"Yes. It's her. Your friend is very much alive and she'll be so happy to see you." Nancy smiled as she handed the picture back to the boy named Daryl.

Erin was gasping and squeezing Daryl's hand even tighter, as a fresh batch of tears welled up in her eyes. "It is? Really? She's really really alive?"

"Yes she is." Nancy confirmed once again. Patrick let out an incredulous laugh while he raked one hand through his blonde hair, as Sam gripped Erin's shoulders, trying to steady her, while he, too, laughed in relief.

Daryl swallowed hard several times, trying to fight his tears and trying to find his words. "Can we see her? Please. Please."

As much as Nancy would have loved to let them go to Bay, she knew that she couldn't. "I'm sorry, I know these are quite special circumstances, but I can't let you go into that room. Not tonight. She is already sleeping. She had her, hopefully, last surgery this morning. She needs her rest."

"What's wrong with her? Why has she been here so long? Is she okay? Is she gonna be okay?" Daryl asked quickly, needing to know that his girl was alright.

"She had an accident and had some complicated fractures. There have been some issues with infection, which is why she had to stay so long. That's all I can tell you. You can get the full story from her... tomorrow. I know it's rough, but you guys have to go back home tonight. Tomorrow you can come see her during visiting hours."

"I get off work around five." Daryl stated. "We would be here around six. Is that alright?" he knew it would be torture to wait a whole day to see her, but he wasn't about to make a scene in a hospital, even though he was dying to just barge into that room. It was so close. Bay was so close.

"That's perfectly fine. I won't tell her that you're coming. She will be so surprised. She misses you guys. She talked about you a lot."

"But then why didn't she call? She knows my number." Erin asked while she wiped her tears off her face using her sleeves.

"She was scared that you would be mad and disappointed that she let herself go and that she just left."

"Oh Bay..." Erin shook her head with a little laugh. "That's silly..."

"You can tell her that tomorrow. Come on, go on home. I'm sorry. Like I said, I understand this sucks for you, but she needs her sleep tonight."

"I understand. We all do." Erin smiled. "We'll be back tomorrow night."

"I'll see you then." Nurse Nancy smiled and watched the group of four leave, albeit reluctantly. She was so happy for Bayanne. The support and love of her friends would sure help her heal a lot faster, and help her get back on her feet. She herself could barely wait until the next night, to see Bayanne's reaction to seeing that her friends had come for her.

* * *

><p>"Last night I wanted to hurt you, tonight I want to kiss you, Daryl Dixon." Erin was still crying, but she was also smiling. "If it hadn't been for you... well, we wouldn't have lost her for two months in the first place, but shit... thank God you came back... Thank God you didn't believe us. Thank you for finding her again." Erin closed the gap between them and hugged him hard. Daryl hugged her back, but only a little bit. Her boyfriend was watching after all. "I mean... I'm not saying all is forgiven, but right now I'm so happy that Bay is alive that I don't really care about everything else that happened. You found her. We just accepted she was gone, but you didn't. You found her after two damn days... If we only would have called around..."<p>

"Don't blame yourself, babe." Sam opened his arms and hugged Erin to him, when she had let go of Daryl. "Everybody thought the police was right, because we all were there and saw how Bay had changed. Daryl didn't see that. If he had, maybe he might have believed the cops, too."

Patrick nodded. "Yeah... We gotta leave that behind us now, though. She ain't dead. He believed and he found her. That's what matters. She's alive. We'll have her back. We'll see her tomorrow and we'll figure out the rest then." Erin and Sam agreed, and the three of them smiled at each other, while Daryl suddenly got very quiet. Tomorrow he'd see Bay and he would have to face her reaction to him.

"Maybe I shouldn't go tomorrow. Maybe you should go and give her a heads up first..." he mumbled, suddenly unsure about his whole plan. If she didn't want to see him, he had no right to show up in her room.

"Daryl... I don't know what it's like right now, but back then, she missed you terribly." Erin told him. Daryl peeked up at her shyly, not quite daring to believe what she was saying. "She felt betrayed by you, she thought that the whole relationship was an act, but she still wanted you back. She missed you and she wanted you back with her. She said it every day I talked to her, right up until the last time."

"It's true." Patrick confirmed. He had heard it with his own ears.

"So you are coming tomorrow night. We will all get into that truck of yours tomorrow night and you will go into that room with us and face the music. Whatever that might turn out to be. Understood?" Erin asked, using her no-nonsense tone of voice. Daryl nodded quickly. Now he felt even more nervous than before, because now he hoped that Bay wouldn't be steaming mad and kick him out right away, and that hope also brought with it the risk of maybe getting deeply disappointed. Not that he wouldn't deserve it, but he knew it would be crushing if she would refuse to hear him out.

"I know that remains to be seen,... at least until tomorrow,..." Patrick looked at Daryl, before he switched his gaze over to Sam and Erin. "but in case Bay will be able to forgive him... we should be able to do that as well."

Sam nodded. "Yeah... Guess we'll figure it all out tomorrow. Let's go. It's fucking cold out here."

It was the last words that were spoken before they all piled back into Daryl's car and drove back to Dalton. All of them were lost in their own thoughts, trying to process what was happening.

* * *

><p>None of them slept right that night, and none of them were able to focus on their work the next day. Daryl felt like it was the longest 20 hours of his life. Work was a blessing in disguise, because it distracted him a little bit and made the time go by faster, but the hours still seemed to drag by slower than ever anyway.<p>

As soon as he was free to leave, he got out of there like a bat out of hell and drove back to Patrick's. Erin and Sam were already there and ready to go, but Daryl had gotten so sweaty and dirty at work, that he wanted to take a quick shower and dress in clean clothes. Cleanliness had always been important to Bay and he didn't want to be a stinky mess the first time they'd see each other again. He put on a navy blue hoodie, which Bay had liked best on him during the cold months, and a pair of black baggie pants and his Converse sneakers completed the outfit. While he stepped back into the living room, he had an idea. "We should stop somewhere and get a box of doughnuts. She loves them."

"That's a great idea!" Erin agreed enthusiastically. "Oh and we gotta get her a McDonalds milkshake. The chocolate one. She loves that, too. I'm sure she hadn't had one in quite some time."

"Yeah. Sounds good." Daryl smiled and grabbed his keys. "Let's do it."

The group of four left the apartment and stopped by the fast food restaurant and at the doughnut shop to get some goodies for their friend, then they were off, back to Calhoun. Erin and Daryl got more nervous by the minute. Daryl started tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, while Erin kept clutching Sam's hand harder and harder. Sam and Patrick were anxious, but way more relaxed than the other two, but they also couldn't wait to see their friend alive again. Daryl started getting stomach cramps and suffered a bout of shortness of breath when they had parked on the hospital parking lot. He was losing his nerve a little with the moment of truth almost upon them. He had no idea what to say to her. He wasn't sure how to act or how she would act and react. It was nerve-wracking. Pat noticed Daryl's inner turmoil and put a steadying hand on his best friends shoulder on their way into the building. They used the elevator to go up to the second floor and then turned right. There, at the end of the hallway... there was her room. Daryl's heart felt like it was trying to literally beat out of his chest, the shortness of breath returning and getting stronger with every step. They came up on the nurse's station. Nurse Nancy was there, smiling and nodding at them, and pointing towards Bay's room. "Go on in..." She would have loved to go with the group, but she decided on giving them some privacy for their reunion. She was sure Bay would tell her all about what it had been like to see her friends again later.

Daryl didn't even register the nurse's words, he was only focused on that birch wood door in front of him. His stomach was dropping lower and lower, but at the same time a huge amount of excitement was building up inside of him. It was the weirdest sensation and frankly, it made him feel like throwing up, because he was so damn nervous. He gripped the box of donuts in his hand like a life line when Erin slowly pushed the door open and went lead the way inside the room.

Erin's gaze flew straight to the hospital bed to the right side of the room. She gasped. Her hand covering her mouth as tears welled up and spilled out of her eyes uncontrollably. Her knees gave out and she would have crumbled to the floor if it hadn't been for Sam catching her, and holding her up from behind. This was a much different experience for Erin, Sam and Pat, than it was for Daryl. The three of them had seen Bay break down and had truly believed that she had taken her own life. They had gone through weeks of grieving, while Daryl had only learned about the whole thing two days ago, and had never really believed that she had died. So seeing her, even though it was very emotional for him as well, wasn't quite the same shock to the system to him as it was for the other three. Even Sam and Pat had tears in their eyes and weren't quite able to believe that this was truly happening. "It's really her." Erin's words were a tear-filled whisper.

Daryl was frozen in place. Yes, it was really her. His Bay. Only so much smaller and so much paler than he remembered, and so incredibly thin, that it looked like she might break if you touched her. Her head was turned to the side, facing them, but her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell evenly. She was sleeping again. For whatever reason Daryl thought she looked cold, evoking the urge in him to climb into that bed with her, scoop her into his arms and warm her up with his body heat and with a million kisses. His heart was still thumping inside his chest painfully hard and he was still nervous, but finally seeing her again made him realize once again how much he loved her. His love for her consumed him and somehow, through that, he felt confident that things would be alright. Even if not right away, but some day. He would just have to show her that it hadn't been an act. That he had simply fucked up, but that it had all been because he loved her so damn much.

Erin was the first one to move again, after they had all spent a moment frozen in their spots upon seeing their friend again. She quietly moved over to the side of the bed and very gently cradled Bay's face between her hands. "Bay..." she quietly called out while she softly rubbed her thumbs along Bay's cheeks. "Bay... sweetie..." Daryl stopped breathing when Bay started to rouse and she slowly blinked her eyes open. "There you are..." Erin smiled so big through her tears, that it actually hurt her face, but she couldn't have cared less. Bay looked utterly confused for a moment. A frown settled itself on her features, but only for a split-second, because her sleep-addled brain quickly caught up. Then her eyes widened and she stared at her friend in utter surprise.

"Erin? How...? Wh-... What...?" More words didn't come out, because she started crying, right along with Erin. She didn't even notice yet that Erin wasn't alone.

Erin hugged her hard and Bay buried her face against Erin's shoulder as both girls sobbed, letting everything out; all the grief and despair and fear and pain. The boys just stood there and watched, all wiping tear after tear from their own faces. They weren't made of stone and the whole thing combined with the sounds of the girls sobbing was tugging all of their heartstrings.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I just left. I just couldn't stay there anymore... and I didn't want to get talked out of it." Bay pressed out as soon as the hardest sobs had passed.

"No, it's okay. I'm sorry, too. For giving up on you." Erin sniffed. "The cops found your bag on the bridge and said you had jumped, and we believed them. We shouldn't have. We should have looked for you."

"They said I...?" Bay pulled back and looked at Erin in confusion. "But if you thought I was dead... why are you here now? How'd you find me?"

"Actually, it wasn't me who found you, sweetie... It was Daryl." Erin said and felt Bay stiffen noticeably. Daryl felt faint when he watched the expression on Bay's face grow even more confused.

"Daryl? I don't understand... He's gone... "

"I came back." It slipped out of his mouth without him realizing it. Before he had time to wonder if that had really been his voice that had sounded so tear-filled, he saw Bay's eyes snap from Erin's face over to him and the boys. Her eyes locked with his, sending a huge shock-like sensation through him. All his nerve-endings tingled in a weird way and he suddenly felt like he'd had 10 cups of coffee in a row. She looked at him in shock for a moment, then he watched the shock leave her expression as her face crumpled and she started sobbing again.

"Daryl?" his name on her lips sounded almost inhuman in that moment, because she was crying so hard. She covered her mouth with her uninjured left hand, like it would help keep in the sobs, as she broke down. Daryl slowly neared the bed, absolutely not knowing what to do and not knowing what to make of her reaction. When he came up next to Erin, Bay reached out her hand, and Daryl was completely ready and prepared to have her slap him. What happened next, though, shocked him more than any blow to the face he had been almost counting on receiving. Bay was reaching for him. She was gripping his arm and was pulling him closer. Erin got up from the edge of the bed and moved out of the way, and Daryl finally threw all caution out the window and sat down, and quickly enveloped Bay in his strong arms. When he felt Bay sag against him, her whole body shaking and being wracked by her sobs, his dam broke as well.

"Baby girl." he whispered brokenly and buried his face in the crook of her neck, just like she was burying her face in his, and started crying just as hard as she was. Deep down he'd had kind of high hopes, but never in a million years would he have thought that she would let him hold her tonight.

"Why?" she cried. "Why did you leave me? Why? I don't understand."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Bay. I'll explain everything. I promise." he sounded just as broken as she did, and once again, their friends did not remain untouched by it. Patrick had to bite his tongue in order to not turn into a sobbing mess himself from watching them reunite. Erin had given up on trying not to cry and Sam also kept wiping away tears with the sleeves of his sweater.

"Did you plan it?" Bay asked hiccuping.

"No. No, sweetheart, I promise. It wasn't me. The money. I didn't know. Merle took it. I didn't know. I was too out of it to realize it was yours." he tried to explain everything in a nutshell, but his thoughts were too jumbled.

"I don't understand. I don't understand what happened."

"I'll explain. Later... I never lied, I promise. I meant it all. I'll explain... " They pulled apart and looked into each others eyes. Daryl wanted to kiss her badly, but he didn't dare. Things were so fragile right now, he didn't want to mess anything up. Instead he gently tried to dry her face, by wiping at her tears with his thumbs.

"Okay." Bay nodded and reached up, touching the back of his hand for a short moment. Her head was a mess right now and she imagined that the others weren't faring much better. They were all here. That's what mattered right now. She could wait for Daryl's explanation a moment longer. They needed to calm down first.

When Daryl and Bay stopped hugging, Patrick walked up to the bed and pressed a big kiss to Bay's forehead without further ado. "Shit, you have no idea how good it is to see you, Bay. Holy shit... Seriously..." for once he was at a loss for words.

"It's good to see you too. I missed you guys so much." Bay smiled gratefully at him. "You really thought I was dead?"

"Yeah... We should have known. Daryl was the only one who was sure that you would never kill yourself, so he looked into it." Pat explained, while Sam finally took his turn and hugged the hell out of Bay.

"You've always been good at tracking." Bay smiled at him, making Daryl blush and lower his gaze bashfully. The whole situation was still incredibly surreal and the full range of emotion hadn't hit her yet. Right now she was just incredibly happy to see them all, especially Daryl, despite what he had done. "Gosh, I just can't believe it... You're really here..."

"And so are you." Erin smiled and carefully sat down on the bed again, but this time on the other side, because Daryl was still occupying her previous spot. "What happened to you?"

"I got hit by a car. On Murray Bridge. Shouldn't cross bridges on foot in the dark. I definitely learned my lesson." Bay laughed about her own stupidity. "Guess my bag got left there, huh?"

"It did. They gave it to me. We brought it." Erin smiled and pointed to the bag that Pat had dropped by the foot of the bed.

"You did? Oh that's awesome! I have clothes again." Bay grinned happily, making the others laugh. "I was getting sick of this hospital get-up. I hate white by now."

"Why have you been here so long? The nurse said something about fractures and infection?"

"Yeah, my leg was really messed up. My arm was bad, too, but my leg was worse. I had head trauma, too. I was in a coma for two weeks." Bay told them and felt Daryl squeeze her hand. He felt like crap. Having her talk about her injuries felt like it was hurting him physically and mentally. It was his fault. If he hadn't left she wouldn't be here now. "Anyway, the wounds kept getting infected. I guess I was really weak and my body just struggled to heal. They were close to amputating it, but thankfully they got it under control before that happened."

"Jesus Christ..." Erin felt sick and shuddered a little. "And you went through all of that alone? Why Bay? Why didn't you call? Did you really think we would be so mad at you that we would just leave you here to deal with it by yourself?"

"I did. It's stupid, I know that now, but... I don't know. I was just scared. I was in a weird place, and after a couple of weeks... I just got used to being alone again."

"Well I can tell you right now that you will never be alone ever again." Erin stated decisively. "You're coming back with us. You are coming back home."

"I would love to." Bay smiled. "I just don't know how it's all gonna work out yet. I don't have my apartment anymore. I don't have any money, but one hell of a hospital bill. I'll need physical therapy for months, probably. I can't be on my feet too much anymore, not at first... I just... I don't know what to do yet."

"We'll figure it out." Daryl told her with that tiny smile of his and squeezed her hand again.

"He's right." Pat nodded smilingly. "We'll figure it out. Together. With some exceptions here and there,... I'm not looking at a certain somebody," he pointedly looked at Daryl for a moment, "... we've always taken care of each other. And that's exactly what we're gonna do this time as well. You ain't gonna be alone, Bay. We'll help you to get back on your feet."

Pat's words brought fresh tears to her eyes, but she tried to blink them away. "Thank you. For everything you did even before this happened. I know I was impossible to deal with and I'm sorry."

"We understood, Bay." Erin gently rubbed her arm. "You were hurting a great deal..."

Daryl nervously chewed on his lip as he looked at Bay with the guiltiest expression she had ever seen.

"Yeah, I was." Bay agreed and shared a long look with Daryl, before she cleared her throat. "Do you think Daryl and I could talk alone for a moment?"

"Of course." Erin nodded and got up from the bed. "We'll grab ourselves some coffee, and when we're back, we'll be binging on those doughnuts."

The three of them left the room, and Bay looked down to their still joined hands. "So..."

"So..." Daryl sighed.

"What happened. Everything was fine that morning. Or so it seemed-"

"It was." Daryl agreed with her. "Until Merle showed up at work. He was missing a finger. The Mexicans cut it off as a warning."

"Those drug bosses or whatever they are called?"

"Yeah. You were right. He got in big trouble with them. Wanted him to pay them back for what he stole. They threatened to take me and do worse to me if he wouldn't get them the money. He said we had to leave, get the hell outta dodge. He said they might find out about you, too. Do real bad things to you in order to get to him. I... I wanted to come and take you with us, but he said no, that it wouldn't be safe. He said if I loved you, then I'd have to leave you behind so those assholes would never know about you."

"And you believed him." Bay stated quietly. "As usual."

"Yeah. I'm an idiot. I was an idiot. I didn't wanna leave you, but I just kept thinking about what might happen to you if I stayed or if I took you with us. You know Merle,... he's able to paint a pretty fucking horrible picture. I thought I was doing the best thing for you, Bay. I just wanted to keep you safe." Daryl was crying again. Every time he told the story he realized how utterly stupid he'd been. "We left. I was so out of it, I didn't realize that he had all my stuff. I was hurtin', too... and I deserved that, I know, but I wasn't able to take it. I kept getting drunk and stoned, just blending everything out. I never wondered how he was able to pay for all of it. I never realized how he suddenly wasn't afraid of the Mexicans finding him no more."

"He paid them back with my money, didn't he?" Deep down Bay hadn't been able to truly believe that Daryl had taken the money. It hadn't seemed right inside her head, but so far, there hadn't been another explanation for it other than he had taken it. Bay hadn't even thought about Merle being involved in it.

"I think so. Yeah."

"So it's all gone?"

"I'm sorry. If I had known... I would have killed him. I would have brought it back to you."

"Where is Merle now? Is he back in Dalton, too?"

"Nah, he's locked up in Monroe. That's where we went. Got himself arrested." Daryl explained. "Once he was out of the picture, I came back to my senses and I came back for you. Went to your apartment, but there was a guy living there. Found Pat and he told me you jumped off Murray Bridge... Nearly killed me... I guess I was ready to go. I just laid on the ground out by the field where we did shooting practice. I think I blacked out or something. When I woke up I knew... I just knew you wouldn't do that. Then the whole story with the cops didn't add up. So I started calling hospitals, trying to find a lead to where ya might be... and here we are..."

"Yeah... here we are..."

Daryl slowly intertwined their fingers and Bay let him. "Never lied, Bay. Wasn't an act. Got your name on my chest to prove it. Wouldn't be here if it had been a scam."

"I know. I know that, but... I don't know. It never felt like an act. Not once. My heart told me that it was real, but my head... There was just no explanation for it. I just wasn't able to comprehend what happened and why you would do that to me."

"I made a mistake, but all I wanted to do was to protect you. I screwed up and I get that ya don't trust me no more."

"I don't think that I don't trust you anymore. I think I still trust you,... I don't know, it's hard to explain. You being here... it feels like nothing happened. Like we could go straight back to how it was, but that's my heart talking. My head is still in a jumble and trying to wrap its mind around all what you just told me."

"I get that."

"I missed you so much, Daryl. I wasn't even mad at you when it happened. I was mad at myself, because I thought I had been stupid enough to let myself get fooled by you. I didn't want to believe that you had just played me, and deep down I knew that you hadn't. I didn't think anyone would have been able to fake what we shared, but like I said, there was no other explanation."

"Now ya have another explanation, though..."

"Yeah... I do. And I believe you..."

"But?"

"I don't know. I can't think straight right now. I need some time to process all of this. An hour ago I was still trying to figure out what to do once I get released. I had nowhere to go and no one to call and now all of a sudden my friends and the love of my life are back in my life, and it's a lot to take in."

"Yeah... I guess." Daryl said with a nod.

"Are you gonna stay? In Dalton, I mean? Or are you going back to where your brother is?"

"Ain't never leaving you again." he promised sincerely. "I'll show you that I meant all of it. I'll prove it. We'll get our lives back together. That is, if you wanna."

"I want that very much." Bay smiled, relieved that he was gonna be around.

"I'll prove that you can trust me again. I'll take care of you. Just like before. I got a job. With John, the carpenter, remember?"

"Yeah... that's great."

"Yeah. As soon as the steady paychecks roll in, we can get our own place again. Don't have to be big, we managed with one bedroom... We'll get you up and running, no matter how long it takes, you focus on that, and when you're better, we'll find something you can do and instead of saving for college, we'll pay off the hospital bill." Daryl was so excited he just kept planning and planning while Bay watched him with a little smile.

"You're really back..." she said quietly.

"I am. Forever. I promise. No more fuck ups. Not like that."

"Okay. Can you just kiss me already? Please?" she asked and burst into giggles at his surprised expression.

"Really? That's what ya want?"

"It is. I'm drunk on happiness right now."

"Don't want ya to regret it later..."

"I don't think I will." Bay said smilingly and rested her fingers on his jaw, slowly pulling him closer. She had missed him so much and all consequences be damned now. She just wanted to feel his ridiculously soft lips back on hers.

Daryl leaned in, meeting her half way. Their lips brushed against each other in a feather-light caress. It tickled slightly, making Bay smile and release a little giggle. Warmth spread out from Daryl's heart at the sound. He'd missed it so much. He'd missed everything about her so damn much. His free hand slid to the back of her neck, and he angled his head and finally captured her lips fully with his.

"Mmm." Bay made a little sound in the back of her throat. Tears welled back up in her eyes, because this little kiss already felt like she was coming home after having been out in the cold for way too long. "Please don't hurt me again." she whispered against his lips.

"I promise. I fucking swear, baby girl. Never again." he vowed, before he caught her bottom lip between his in a long and deep kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>

**Reunited and it feels so good! Thank you so so so so unbelievably much for all the great feedback. Funny how many readers are excited about this. I guess AU is just way more my strong suit than ZA. I feel so motivated and excited, thank you for that. So, I speed-wrote the second chapter for you. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry if the reunion seems fast, but I don't see the sense in keeping them apart. This time only three months have passed instead of 10 years, so Bay's feelings and memories and stuff were still very much on the surface and she just wanted him back. Understandably so, right ladies?**

**I got this question a lot and another one I wasn't able to answer, because some turned off their PM function:**

**There won't be a baby yet. They are still so young and have to get their lives back on track, so sorry, not right now. But eventually I'm sure they will have a real family. Also, the tumblr for the story is still the same. his-walls dot tumblr dot com Dear Snowbird, thank you so much for your always awesome feedback. I hope your eyes were good and misty during the reunion, lol. We are the weepy ones in the bunch. I needed tissues writing this. Love you, and I hope you are doing very well.  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi. Once again, all the hospital/medical stuff is how it's done in Germany. Research wasn't conclusive on whether or not things are being handled differently in the USA.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Bay had just wrapped her arms around Daryl, gently scratching his back through his hoodie while they shared the first innocent kisses again, when the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted them. They broke apart and turned to look who had entered the room on extremely silent feet. Nurse Nancy felt like sighing dreamily when she saw her patient smile happily for the first time since she'd been admitted. She was genuinely excited and happy for Bayanne. She hadn't been able to stop herself from worrying about what would become of her, once she'd be released. Now she had her friends to go home to, and judging from the red-rimmed eyes she had seen not just on the girl, but on the two other boys as well when she'd run into them in the hallway just now, she knew that these people cared and would help Bayanne out.

"Nurse Nancy, this is Daryl!" Bay was grinning from ear to ear.

"I figured, what with the kissing and all." Nancy winked, making Daryl blush and look at the floor quickly. "Well, I guess taking your blood pressure would give me false results right now, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it might." Bay laughed, blushing a little herself. She agreed though, her blood pressure had definitely risen in the past couple of minutes.

"Alright, then let's check on that leg first. Do you want your friend to step outside for a moment?"

"Nope. He's staying right where he is. Right?" She asked Daryl with a smile, which widened when he nodded.

Daryl got off the bed though, but continued to hold Bay's hand. He watched the nurse pull back the covers, revealing Bay's legs. Her right leg looked fine, but when his gaze traveled along her left leg, his stomach started cramping painfully. There was a long and thick scar along her shin, taking up almost the whole length between her knee and her ankle. It was still relatively fresh, but it had no longer stitches in them, so it was already a couple of weeks old. Her left knee looked very swollen and it had huge band-aids covering it in the shape of a T. He watched Nurse Nancy carefully remove those bandages, revealing a fresh and gnarly-looking, big-ass scar, probably about another seven or eight inches in length. He figured that must have been the surgery Bay had had the day before. He was barely able to stand the sight. It make his left leg tingle uncomfortably in the places she had her scars. The only comfort was, that this was still way better than Bay losing that leg.

"This looks good, Bayanne. No infection in sight. How are you doing on pain?" Nancy asked while she proceeded to cover the stitches back up with new band-aids.

"So-so."

"I'll get you something for that. We will have to do your exercises in a little bit anyway. The pain medication will take the edge off, make it a bit easier." Nancy told he while she finished up with the leg.

"Yeah, I hope so. This morning was not much fun." Bay said and winced a little when she shifted around a bit.

"What did they do?" Daryl asked her, while Nancy took Bay's temperature.

"Knee replacement. I'm a bionic woman now." Bay joked, but Daryl didn't laugh.

"When can she come home?" he asked the nurse.

"If everything keeps looking the way it does now, then next week."

Daryl nodded and chewed on his thumbnail while he seemed to think about something, then after half a minute, he spoke up again. "Can she have doughnuts?" he asked in the cutest way, and it made Nancy want to go 'aaawww, you're adorable'. However she refrained from telling him that.

"She can have anything she wants. As a matter of fact, you go ahead and make her go to town on those doughnuts like a champ. She needs to get herself into fighting shape. It will help her heal better if she gets her strength up."

"Don't worry. I'll get her there. Done it before." Daryl reassured the nurse, but he was looking and smiling at Bay while he said it.

"Going out to shoot us another deer?" Bay laughed quietly.

"You can bet your ass I will. Gonna start setting it up as soon as I'm home. Gonna have everythin' ready for you to come home."

Nancy smiled at that. "I like hearing that. Sounds like you will be in very good hands, Bayanne."

"I will be... And I hope forever this time."

Daryl nodded again. "Promise."

The nurse left a moment later and Daryl sat back down on the bed. "What?" he asked his girl when he noticed her thoughtful frown.

"Where exactly is 'home' going to be, Daryl?"

_Damn. Good question. _"Dunno yet, but I'll figure it out. You don't worry 'bout anything but getting yourself up and running again. Okay?"

"Okay." Bay nodded with a smile.

Daryl leaned in and kissed her sweetly, then he pulled away and grabbed the box of doughnuts and the milkshake they had brought for her. "Good. Now, do me a favor and have some of this. Brought this 'specially for you."

"You shouldn't have. Mmmm, but they look yummy." Bay was beaming when he opened the box for her. She chose one with sprinkles and took a little bite. "This is good. Thank you. Have you eaten?"

"Not yet. Plenty of time later. Wanted to come see you first."

"Have a bite." she held her doughnut up to his lips.

"Nah, that's yours."

"Come on, there's 11 more in that box. If I have to eat, then you have to eat, too." she grinned, when he rolled his eyes, but did take a bite from her pastry.

"Damn... those **are **good." he mumbled with his mouthful.

"They sure are." she agreed and kept eating while he watched her, pulling her hand up to his mouth to press his lips against the back of it.

"Are you in a lot of pain?"

"It's okay. There's good days and there's bad days. Most of my injuries have healed by now, but my leg is still giving me trouble. They kept having to open it back up for a while and that really sucked. It's better now, though. Now my knee hurts, but that's from surgery yesterday. Will take a couple more days until it's better I think. Physical Therapy really sucks, though. I lost a lot of muscle tone. Not just my leg, but in general. I'm not as strong as I used to be. It's a bitch getting it back..." she mumbled with disappointment. It was a sore spot for her. Bay had always prided herself in being a lot stronger than she looked, but now that was gone. Even going to the bathroom with the help of a walker or a cane already took a lot out of her. The infection that had raged in her body had weakened her a lot, along with the coma and the broken bones and her overall mental state. It had been a long couple of weeks. She had only really been feeling better for about a week now, and the bleak prospects of having absolutely nothing except a whole lot of debt upon getting released, had done nothing to her willpower to get better as soon as possible. That might change now, though. Now she had some motivation and a lot of helping hands.

"You're strong, Bay. You'll get it all back, and then some."

Before she was able to say something in reply, Nancy came back with her pain meds and with their friends in tow.

"Oh good, you already started with the doughnuts." Erin smiled and quickly took one for herself. She hadn't had dinner yet and she was starving. "You want some of my coffee, sweetie?"

"No, thanks. It's boring here, I'm glad when I'm able to fall asleep quickly." Bay declined. "I still can't believe that you are really all here."

"Better believe it. And we're not going anywhere. Well, except home later. Oh, by the way... do you know when you'll be allowed to go home?"

"Next week." Daryl answered for her. "Gotta figure out where to live until then."

"It's gonna be a tight fit with three people, but for starters you can stay with me." Pat offered nonchalantly, but suddenly he perked up. "Oh I know! Skylark Apartments!"

"What about it?" Daryl asked with a frown while he still held Bay's hand, absently rubbing his thumb over the back of it.

"I did some janitor-type shit there last week and I heard something about one of the apartments becoming available soon. There was an old guy who chewed my ear off the whole time. He said that it's only 1-bedroom units, but that rent is damn cheap. 100 bucks a week and he said that they cover water, power and trash, too." Pat explained.

"100 bucks a week? Sounds like it's a dump." Daryl was a bit skeptic about the whole thing.

"Nah man, I was in that building, I saw on of 'em places from the inside. It was nice, real nice. Surprisingly nice for that low rent. The building is downtown, by the elementary school on Tyler Street. It's a solid brick building, they have laundry facilities on site and even fucking security cameras. I ain't kiddin'. Shit, it's too late to call today, but first thing in the morning, we're gonna call 'em up. I still got their number laying around. We gotta get Bay dibs on that thing."

"You okay with that?" Daryl asked Bay for her opinion on it.

"Hey, I'm good with anything that's not a cardboard box under a bridge." she laughed.

"But are you gonna be okay on your own right away?" Erin asked, referring to Bay's injuries.

"She ain't gonna be alone. Ain't just for her." Daryl said, surprising the others.

"Oh..." Erin swallowed and looked back and forth between Bay and Daryl. "So... you guys... you're back together?"

"Yeah. Looks like we are." Bay said and squeezed Daryl's hand.

"Not wasting any time, are ya?" Pat laughed around his mouthful of doughnut.

"We wasted enough time, don't you think?" Bay shrugged. "He screwed up, but I believe him when he says it was because he thought it would protect me. I'm just glad that he came back. To me it's a good sign. Also my grandma was a big fan of 'forgive and forget'. Life's too short to hold grudges."

"Pfff... maybe... but there things that can be pretty darn hard to forgive." Erin muttered darkly. The memories of a suffering Bay were still very fresh.

"Put yourself in my shoes. What if what happened with Daryl would have happened to you and Sam? What if you were suddenly forced to believe that the sweetest and most selfless man on the planet was a deceiving, heartless thief, even though you just know that it can't be true? What if he came back after a couple of months, like Daryl did, and told you that he just wanted you safe? That he had been framed, kind of? Would you be able to turn him away even though your feelings never changed?" Bay wasn't upset, she simply put the facts on the table and asked Erin what she would have done if she would have been in Bay's position.

Erin looked at Sam for a moment, before she shook her head with a laugh. "Shit... I might slap you, but the next minute I would be on you like butter on toast."

"Ha,... good to know." Sam laughed out loud.

"Don't you dare!" Erin slightly pushed her elbow into his ribs.

"Now you see where I'm coming from." Bay smiled. "I believe him when he says he didn't play me. There are some things you just can't fake. That's why I had such a hard time with it. It was all too real to have been an act, but yet... he was gone... ugh... don't wanna talk about it anymore. It's over and you're back." She smiled and pulled him to her for a kiss.

"Yeah, and tomorrow we'll find you guys a place to live. We'll try. If it doesn't work out until next week, you'll stay with me until you get your own place." Pat told them again.

"Thanks man." Daryl sent him a grateful nod.

"Yes, thank you Pat." Bay reached over and squeezed Pat's arm.

They spent some more time talking and planning. Sam, Erin and Pat told Bay and Daryl what had happened in Dalton in the past couple of months, bringing them up to speed about some of their friends. Around 9 pm Nurse Nancy came in and told them that they would have to get ready to leave. Bay got hug after hug and was promised that they would come back every day until she would be able to come home with them. Daryl, however, made no move to release her hand or get off her bed. It was clear that he didn't want to go home and leave her behind.

"I can stay." he whispered against Bay's lips after kissing her gently.

"No you really can't." Bay whispered back.

"I can sneak back in later..."

"No, really... Go home. You need to sleep if you have work tomorrow. No need to get into trouble here."

"I don't wanna go. I can't make it here on the weekend if I go hunting."

"That's okay. I'll be alright, I promise." She kissed him again. "You go and take care of what needs to get taken care of. You'll see more than enough of me once I'm home."

"There ain't never gon' be enough of you, Bay." he sighed deeply and looked into her eyes for a moment, before he nodded. "Fine. I'll go."

"I would hope so, you're our ride!" Erin laughed and gently tugged on his arm. "Come on. She will still be here tomorrow." And with that, she finally got him out of Bay's room.

* * *

><p>The next day Sam and Erin went to the hospital in the afternoon to visit Bay, wanting to give her and Daryl some alone time in the evening. Bay's physical therapist was there when they arrived. Erin, being a dutiful nurse herself, watched like a hawk and asked the therapist about exercises and activities Bay would have to do in order to have a successful recovery period. At the end of the visit, Erin had a comprehensive plan about what Bay should have achieved at what stage, and she knew that she would do everything in her power to help Bay achieve those goals.<p>

Pat, in the meantime, had gotten Daryl an appointment to take a look at the apartment during his lunch break. As it turned out, Pat had been right. The apartment was really nice for only 100 dollars a week. Actually, it looked a lot like Bay's old apartment, so he knew that she would feel right at home there. The current tenant would move out only a couple of days later, at which point Daryl would move in with his few belongings. Thankfully the kitchen was equipped with a stove, a fridge and a microwave, and he could barely wait to stock the cabinets with whatever he'd get for trading the meat from the game he was hoping to shoot. The rest of the apartment was bare, though, and it worried him a little.

"We ain't got nothing, man! Shit..." he sighed. His joy over getting a nice apartment for them got a damper for a moment.

"All you need for now is a mattress. Throw it on the floor and you can sit and sleep on it." Pat suggested.

"Nah, man. She needs a real bed. She's gotta be able to get up right. Her leg will take another couple months to heal. She needs a place to sit down and put her leg up from time to time. Chair or armchair or something. She said she won't be able to cook without having a chair there, 'cause she needs to sit down again after a couple of minutes. Shit! Cooking! We ain't got no sauce pans, no spoons, no glasses, no knives,... fucking nothing. We ain't even got pillows or blankets. We're starting at fucking zero here, and she won't have no income for another couple months."

"Relax, dude. We'll make it work. John has left over materials all the time. We can build you guys a bed. No big deal. You just gotta buy a mattress. If there's one thing the two of you are good at, it's saving money. You'll fill this thing up with your own stuff in no time at all. Until then some of us will pitch in, I'm sure. Like... I dunno... If everyone spares a fork, a knife, a glass, a towel... you know, shit like that... You'll have enough to get by for now." Pat was optimistic that it would work out just fine.

"Are we gonna get it all done within a damn week? Or less? I gotta go hunt with my uncle on the weekend."

"Sure. Just gimme the spare key. I'll ask around if someone's getting rid of stuff you might need, see what I can scrounge up. You take care of the stuff for the bed." Pat already had some ideas of who to ask. That was the good thing about having another job every day; he met a whole lot of people and there was always something people were trying to get rid off, because they had bought themselves new stuff. While Daryl went back to work once his break was over, Pat reached out to their other friends, asking them to ask around, too. Daryl and Bay were seriously starting at zero. They would need all kinds of things. It wasn't just about chairs, beds and cookware, but also about hygiene products, sheets, alarm clock, lamps, clothes, basic groceries, other furniture that wasn't as easy to built as a bed or a table. Daryl was right, there was still a lot of work to be done in very little time. Thankfully they all loved a challenge.

* * *

><p>"I'm so happy." Bay smiled when Daryl told her about the apartment later that night. "I can't say I'm surprised though. You've always been a miracle worker."<p>

"I like to get things done... I guess it's what I do." Daryl shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, definitely. I'm seriously so excited, there are no words to describe how much."

"Don't need words. I can see it on your face." he smiled. Just a day later she already looked a lot better than she had last night, when they had found her. The dullness was gone from her eyes and the spark was coming back.

"I haven't been able to stop smiling." Bay admitted. "I hope so much that I'll be able to come home next week, but I'm scared that something will get infected again. That would suck."

"You're comin' home next week, baby girl. I know it. Gonna work my ass off until then to get everything ready, I promise." he was chewing on his lip and wringing her hand which he was holding again. He would love to get in bed with her and hold her again, but she had a new roommate, and he felt watched.

"From your mouth to God's ears." she sighed. "But hey, I would understand perfectly if you wouldn't come to see me every day until then. Don't run yourself ragged, okay? I can deal with a couple more days by myself. The payoff will be worth it."

"What if I ain't able to deal with a couple more days without ya?" he pouted slightly, earning himself a kiss and a giggle from his girl.

"I know it sucks a little bit, but look... You just got here and now you have to leave again in ten minutes. Knowing you, you won't go to bed straight away, but take care of a couple of things, even if it's just setting up your hunting trip. Am I right?"

"Yeah, but I don't mind."

"I know that you don't mind, but I don't want you tired. I don't want you to spend an hour on the road for a 20 minute visit. I love that you do it and I appreciate it, but while you're still so busy with everything, those 80 minutes let you get more done, right?" Bay reasoned with him, and even though he didn't like the thought of not seeing her for a couple of days, he knew that she was right.

"Guess so."

"Don't think I don't wanna see you. I love that you're here, but the anticipation will make coming home even sweeter." she smiled and kissed the back of his hand, after she had noticed that he'd blushed after the kiss on the lips. For whatever reason the women in the bed opposite of her was making him uncomfortable. "You get our home ready, and once I'll be able to join you, I'll make you that roast that you love so much and pamper you as much as I can."

"You can just forget about that." Daryl scoffed. "I ain't saying no to your food, we'll figure out a way to make cooking comfortable for you, but apart from that, you're the one that's gon' get pampered, sweetheart."

"We'll see..." she giggled teasingly.

"**You'll **see." he narrowed his eyes at her in jest, making her giggle even more. He loved it. After having missed it for three months, he wasn't able to get enough of it. Now he'd have to go without it again for a couple of days, as it was nearing 9 pm. "Well... guess I'll go." he mumbled, everything about him radiating reluctance.

"I'll walk you out." Bay said and pushed the covers off of her legs. "Well, out of the room, since that is just as far as I can walk." She was in good spirits, but it hurt Daryl to hear her say that. Bay had used to be on her feet all day long, from the moment she had woken up in the morning until the moment they had sat down for dinner at night. And even after that she had still been energetic enough to have lots of sex with him. It was tough to see her struggling to walk the 25 feet her therapist had told her to walk a couple of times a day.

"Alright. Tell me what to do." Daryl walked over to the other side of the bed, wanting to help her get up.

"Just stand close in case anything gives out. I have to try to do it alone." She said as she carefully moved her legs out of bed. She tried not to wince, because she didn't want him to worry, but unfortunately, just two days after surgery and despite pain meds, there was still a lot of pain involved in moving her leg. The doctor had warned her that it would be a part of her life for the next 3-12 months. Maybe forever, but that would be worst case, and the doctor was positive that she would recover just fine if she would stick to her exercise regimen. Daryl cringed every time her face contorted in pain even the slightest bit. He wished he would be able to take the pain away from her and bear it himself, but unfortunately that was not possible. Instead he stuck close by her side, one arm slung around her waist, his hand resting on her side, gently gripping so he'd be ready to catch her in case she would fall.

"That okay?" he asked while they took the first couple of steps. He was looking down, watching her leg with concern.

"Yes, that's good. I know it looks bad, but my therapist said it should get better every day." she tried to ease his mind.

"You'll get there." Daryl mumbled, his eyes not leaving her bad leg. "You're a fighter... you're disciplined. You'll be back to running around soon." he meant what he said, but at the same time he doubted that it would be too soon from the looks of it.

"I hope so. I'll do whatever it takes. I hate all this laying around and not being able to do anything. It was even worse when my arm was healing up and they kept doing surgery on my leg to flush out that infection. This is my second fake knee, actually. The first one kept getting infected, too. They thought the infection in my bone was causing the infection in my knee, but it was the other way around. That's what it seems like, because so far no infection. I hope to God it won't come back, but with the amount of antibiotics they give me... I'm sorry, I'm rambling. It distracts me from the pain, I guess." Bay smiled sheepishly, when they had reached the hall and the door to her room closed behind them.

"I love when ya do it." Daryl smiled at her. "Don't apologize." They stopped walking just outside the door. Bay supported herself on the walker, and Daryl finally left her side in order to step in front of it. He cradled her face between his strong hands and placed a loving kiss on her lips. Bay made a frustrated little sound when he pulled away. She tilted her face up, trying to chase his lips.

"One more." she pouted, making Daryl smirk. "I want a real kiss."

"Nah, baby girl. Not here. Not with you having to stay for another couple days. Ain't gonna see ya neither. Would be even more torture..." he told her while he slowly traced his thumbs back and forth along her jaw. "Tell ya what... you keep getting better, and as soon as you're home next week, you'll get a real, proper kiss. Alright?" he lowered his head and gently kissed her again, just lightly nibbling on her lips. "More than one... you'll get three months worth of proper kisses then."

"Hm, that's some great motivation right there." Bay grinned happily, then she pressed her lips against his one last time, before they broke apart. She needed to get back in her room and sit down.

"Alright. I gotta go. I'll get you the nurse to take you back in there."

"Thanks." Bay smiled and closed her eyes when he kissed her forehead, soaking up every bit of loving he gave her. Slowly he backed away, only taking his eyes off of her at the last second. Bay felt weepy, not wanting him to go, but she knew that she would only have to be strong a little while longer and then they would be back together for real. She was scared. She was so excited about the whole thing,... if another infection would break out inside her body, that would just crush her. She had tears in her eyes just thinking about it. Nurse Heather came walking towards her and noticed Bay's misty eyes.

"What's wrong, dear?"

"I'm just worried that I won't be able to go home soon." She sniffed as two tiny tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You're doing very well this time around." Heather reassured her while she took Bay back to her bed. "No fever, no unusual swelling, no unusual pain, your blood-work looks fine and so does your leg. No sign of infection whatsoever. I'm sure everything will be okay this time. Don't worry. Staying positive is important now. It's very good that you have something to work towards to. That you are able to get in and out of bed alone is already a good thing. And that you can walk outside your room. In a couple of days you won't even need the walker anymore and can use a cane. And soon those walks will get longer and longer, and the assistance you'll need from the cane will get less and less, just like the pain."

"I hope you're right."

* * *

><p>The nurses were right.<p>

Five days later, the doctors finally discharged Bay. She would have to take antibiotics a little while longer and of course she would have to keep working with a physical therapist and have regular check ups in Dalton, but she was finally free to go home. Since she got discharged in the morning, Daryl asked his boss if it would be okay if Patrick came to work for him that day, so Daryl would be able to pick up Bay and take her home. John didn't mind and Daryl had thanked both, him and Patrick, profusely.

The apartment was coming along better than expected, but they were still far from having everything they would eventually need. Sam, Pat and him had built a bed out of wooden pallets and leftover wooden boards from work. It had come out nicely. It was quite sturdy and bigger than her sofa-bed had been. They had stacked the pallets high enough for Bay to be able to get in and out of it comfortably once the mattress covered the pallets. The queen size mattress was brand new and had cost him 150 dollars. It wasn't top of the line, but it was firm, clean and new. That was enough for them. On his lunch breaks Daryl had also built two simple nightstands. One one sat a lamp, and on the other one sat a radio alarm clock, which wouldn't just tell them what time it was and get them out of bed on time, but it would also be their sole source of entertainment for now. Unless someone would wanna get rid of a TV for free, it would be some time until they would be able to afford one. Erin's parents, who've known Bay since elementary school, had been kind enough to "donate" some things from their household. Erin and Sam had brought over towels, pillows, an old comforter and an old topper, glasses and mugs and some castoff kitchen stuff, which she had stored in the attic. She had actually been excited about being able to get rid of some stuff. Erin's father traveled a lot for business and bought a coffee mug in every city he's ever been to, so her cabinets were damn near bursting with mugs. She had never had the heart to give some away, but this time it was for a good cause and her husband had given his blessing.

Daryl had shot a turkey and a couple of rabbits. He hadn't been able to give up too much of the meat and therefore, he hadn't been able to trade too much, but he had still been satisfied with the outcome. Meat was expensive and having that covered was always a good thing. The rest on his shopping list was affordable. Patrick had been right about the two of them being able to save money better than most. They had been smart shoppers and Daryl had been able to pick up a trick or two from Bay during their time together. They only bought fresh fruit and veggies that were in season, because they were much cheaper during that time. Well, actually the trick had been one of Bay's grandmother. She had kept a notebook with all kinds of useful tips. Thankfully it had been one of the items Bay had had in her bag, so he had been able to look up what to buy. It was April, so for fruit it was pineapple and mangoes, and for veggies it was broccoli, lettuce, spring peas and asparagus. If Bay wouldn't be recovering, they both would be okay with going without fruit for a week or even without veggies and only have potatoes, rice or pasta with their meat, but since Bay needed to get healthy and get her strength back, he made sure they would have healthy foods around.

After taking a shower and getting dressed that morning, Daryl painstakingly made their bed, wanting it to look perfect and cozy for Bay, when she saw it for the first time. The same went for the rest of the apartment. He threw out the pizza carton and beer bottles from the previous night, when he'd put the finishing touches on the bed with the guys, he removed the wet towel from the bathroom floor and rid the sink in the bathroom of toothpaste stains. Then he was ready to go and bring his girl home. He was so excited that he had to force himself not to speed to get there faster.

One and a half hours after he had left, the moment was finally upon them. They were slowly ascending the stairs up to the first floor, with Daryl walking right behind Bay, her bag slung over his shoulder and his hands hovering near her back, ready to catch her if she would stumble. It was amazing to see her progress. The last time he had seen her, leaving her room with the help of the walker had been tough on her. Now she was using only the cane and she was walking faster and more effortlessly than a couple of days ago. Of course it was still far from what it used to be, but she was strong and now Daryl was convinced that she would absolutely get back to her old form within the next couple of months.

"Which one?" Bay asked, wanting to know which door led to their apartment.

"Last door on the right."

"Uh! Please tell me that our bed is not up against the neighbors wall!" she smirked.

"Nah... Bathroom is. Bed is up against the wall that faces the street." he grinned back. "Here we are. Hold on. Don't go inside." Daryl quickly told her upon opening the door. "Steady yer bad leg and hold on to me with both arms. I'm only gonna hold on to your good leg."

"What?" she was confused for a moment, not getting what he wanted to do. It became obvious though, when he lifted her arms towards his neck before he crouched a little and carefully lifted her into his arms. "Oh!" she laughed happily. She had major butterflies in her stomach when Daryl carried her over the threshold of their new home. Who said only married people were allowed to do that? Daryl had been picturing that moment inside his head for days, and he knew that it was something he wanted to do, so he did.

"Welcome home, baby girl." he smiled happily, before he gave her a little welcome home kiss.

Finally she was back with him and they were here in their own, brand new, personal bubble, without curious eyes and ears on them. Now they would finally get their fresh start and get their lives back on track, and most importantly, they'd finally be able to reconnect fully.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>

**Just so you know, I'm not pulling things out of my ass, lol. Bay and Dary's new apartment is an actual, real apartment that's for rent in Dalton, GA right now for 100$/week. Pictures will be up on tumblr later. **

**Thank you so much for all the cool, wonderful reviews and your support. It's really motivating to read and to interact with you guys. Lots and lots of love to all of you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

„You want the tour?" Daryl asked, when Bay had both feet on the ground again.

"Of course! What kind of question is that?" She laughed and gently poked him in the ribs.

"Well, you just saw the laundry room in the basement... And in here we have bathroom, kitchen aaaand living/dining and bedroom. Well, that didn't take long." Daryl deadpanned, making Bay laugh even more.

"Silly." she affectionately put her free hand against his belly while she made her way into the bathroom. "Ooooohhh a bathtub! Oh that's awesome! Wow, you and Pat weren't kidding. It's so nice." She went into the small kitchen next, letting her free hand slide over the counter. "I can work with this." she smiled and let her gaze roam over to the living area, which right now only consisted of the bed and the nightstands. "The bed! It looks so good." she beamed at Daryl and walked past him and towards the bed. She sat down on it and leaned her cane against the nightstand while she kicked off her shoes, then she shifted around a bit until she was seated with her legs up, taking in the view of the apartment from the bed. "It's beautiful, Daryl. Not just the bed. The apartment. And boy, this bed is comfy." she giggled, while she tried to bounce on it a little.

Daryl sat down on the right side of the bed and took his shoes off as well, before he joined her to sit fully on the mattress. "I'm sorry that this is all I can give ya. You deserve a real home. This ain't enough, I know that, but we're gonna work on-"

"Stop!" she reached for his face and quickly kissed him to shut him up. "We have all we need. The rest will come in time. We have a roof over our heads, we have a warm bed, we have a full fridge and we have each other. That's all I want and need. You did an amazing job, I love it all. I already feel right at home. Seriously."

"Really?" he looked at her with a hopeful expression.

"Yes! Really. I never lied to you and I'm not about to start." she smiled happily. "Now, grab the pillows and get comfortable, because I'm not waiting a minute longer to finally be able to cuddle you again."

Daryl sprung into action with an excited little smile. He gathered the pillows and propped them up against the wall. He scooted back and leaned against them, opening his arms for his girl once he was comfortable. Bay carefully scooted closer to him, until her head was resting against his broad shoulder, her body cradled between his arm and his side. Daryl held her close and buried his mouth and nose in her hair at the top of her head. Bay closed her eyes and just enjoyed the moment, at the same time breathing him in, just like he was breathing in her. It had been so long, and yet again, it hadn't been.

"I had an idea the other day." Bay murmured a little later. "On how to make at least a little bit of money."

"Yeah? How?"

"Tutoring. Helping kids who have trouble in school. Help them prepare for tests, you know? Wouldn't have to leave the house, no running around and playing jungle gym for a toddler, like when I used to babysit. What do you think?"

"Ain't a bad idea. You used to do that in high school, right?"

"Exactly. I have experience and I was really good in school, and the kids I tutored did pretty well. I will hang up some flyers in the elementary school down the street. It would be convenient for the kids with me being so close. That could be an advantage which might get me a couple of kids. I can get in touch with the parents of the children I used to tutor, ask them to write me a letter of recommendation or something, to show the parents who'd be interested." Bay explained and Daryl couldn't help but smile proudly. _That's ma girl._

"Already got it all figured out, huh?"

"I had nothing but time at the hospital in the past week." she laughed and tilted her head up to kiss him. "I thought about a way to contribute for the time when I can't really do much yet, and that's what popped into my head one day. As soon as I am fully healed I definitely want to go back to waitressing and I want to get my job at the store back."

"Nah, hold on. You ain't gonna work two jobs again, baby girl. There ain't no reason for it. You earned good money as a waitress. Once you get back to that, we'll be able to live comfortably with both of us only working one job each." Daryl told her decisively. Bay was clearly still in her old mindset to make as much money as possible in order to pay for college or the medical bills. She wouldn't have to pay the astronomic medical bill, though. Erin's father had gotten involved in the whole thing, wanting to help Bay out. With no job and being unable to work for maybe up to a year, and no assets to liquidate, there was no way for Bay to pay off her debt. During a long visit one afternoon last week, he had explained her options to her and had advised her to file for chapter 7 bankruptcy. Since she had no income she automatically qualified for it and once everything was filed, she would get a notice of discharge within the next couple of months and her debt would be gone, allowing her a true fresh start. The downside was, that the record of her bankruptcy would stay on her credit report for 10 years, but she didn't care about that. She just wanted to leave all these worries behind her. Now they would just have to find a lawyer that would do pro bono work for her, because she wasn't able to afford to pay him or her either. Erin's dad said, that it shouldn't be too hard, though. So like Daryl had said, she would only need one job, and with only 100 dollars of rent to pay per week, they truly would be able to have a nice life once the bankruptcy had been approved by a court. With him hunting and trading for things and her using all her grandma's tricks and tips, they wouldn't be struggling to make ends meet. They might even be able to save up some money, but that was still at least a couple of months away. For now it would be great if she'd be able to get a couple of kids to tutor and contribute that way.

"Oh... yeah. You're right. I still haven't wrapped my mind around the whole bankruptcy thing."

"Sounds bad, but for you it's a good thing. For us. Ain't no way we would have been able to pay that off. You would have gone to your grave still in debt, with debt collectors haunting your ass for the rest of your life. Better this way. Fuck that negative credit report. Ain't like we gon' buy a yacht in the next ten years." he smirked and tried to cheer her up about the whole thing.

"Ha, true..." she giggled.

"How much ya think it's gonna make? Tutoring, I mean?"

"Depends on how many kids there'll be. Last time I tutored, I charged 15 dollars per hour. I made about 65 bucks a week on average. Sometimes more, sometimes less." she explained.

"Hey, that's more than half the rent. That ain't bad, girl. We can work with that." Daryl was pleasantly surprised.

"Right? Wouldn't be too shabby." she smiled and turned onto her side a bit more. She started tracing her fingertips along his t-shirt covered chest, drawing circles between his nipples. "It's so weird being here again... like this, I mean. Didn't think I'd ever have this again. Especially not with you."

"Same for me. Glad we're here now, though. I really like this place. This time it's really **ours**. Gonna start over together and make this our own."

"Yeah." she agreed before a little smirk played along her lips. "So... when are you going to make me **yours** again?"

Daryl's breath hitched and his heart stopped beating for a split-second. "Good Lord, sweetheart. You really got a way to change the topic."

"Sorry. When you said about making this your own, my mind just went to that liiiiittle dirty place." She laughed with a little blush coloring her cheeks. Daryl wasn't laughing. He was looking at her with a quite serious expression on his face.

"We got time... ain't nobody rushing us." he said quietly.

"I know." Bay replied, her brows knit in confusion.

"Shit happened, Bay. I hurt ya. I ain't got no delusions about that. I just... I dunno. I guess I need ya to process all of this a little more. Make sure that this is what ya really want. That **I am **what you really want." Daryl was cautious about rushing straight back into things, which, in a way, was silly, because here they were, already moving in together again. "And ya ain't healed properly yet."

"I know. The nurse said it would be best to wait at least four weeks until we go back to sexual intercourse. But the other fun stuff we can-"

"You asked her?" Daryl cut her off. He had a hard time believing that Bay would ask such a thing. She was barely able to talk to him about it without blushing.

"She offered unsolicited advice... but it wasn't entirely unwelcome, I guess. It was good to know." Bay explained. She had asked the nurse for an appointment with a gynecologist though, to get birth control. No more worrying about the damn condoms. "And I had plenty of time to process things in the past week when we didn't see each other. I admit, there is some anxiety, that I might lose you again. There is... I don't know... I mean, am I crazy for not making this harder on you? Maybe. Am I crazy and weak for not making you beg and grovel for my forgiveness? People might think that and maybe they are right, but Daryl,... I am just insanely happy to be back here. With you. To have you back. You're all I want. Even though I felt betrayed by you, I still wanted you back, because deep down I just knew, that you weren't that person. That I hadn't been wrong about you. I just wanted you back with me. So when you showed up in my hospital room, all I wanted was to be back in your arms. I processed it. I am aware of what happened. I am aware that you made a mistake that hurt us both a lot, but the only thing that makes me angry is, that you listened to Merle again. And yes, the fear that he will show up and history will repeat itself is definitely there and it might never go away, but I'm gonna take that risk. Life is too short to deny myself happiness. However short-lived it might be. That's all I'm gonna say about it. I want my life back. Our life. I forgive you, because I love you and you did what you did, because you love me and wanted me safe. It's okay. Second chance. However... there might not be a third."

"Got it." Daryl mumbled. "So... we're really good?"

"Yes, baby. We're really good." She smiled reassuringly. "Ugh, gotta get up now though. That's never good."

"What are you doing?" he frowned when she sat up and moved towards the edge of the bed.

"Bathroom." she gasped slightly when she said it. Moving around was still a bit of a bitch. She hobbled towards the bathroom with her cane, and when she came back out after having finished her business, she found him moving around the kitchen. "Making lunch?" she smiled when she came closer.

"Yeah, just a sandwich. Thought we'd have a nice dinner later if that's okay."

"That sounds great."

"Even if you're the one who's gotta make it?" He smiled at her sheepishly, making her laugh a little. "Thought ya could put the cutting board between your legs and cut shit on the bed. Think that would work?"

"Guess we will find out later."

"Yeah." he nodded and went back to making the sandwiches. "Next thing we're gonna get is some kind of bar stools or something... so we can sit and eat at the breakfast bar."

"Sounds great as well." she said as she came closer and pressed her face into his back, right between his shoulder blades, inhaling his scent while her free hand slipped underneath his shirt at his front. Daryl's breath hitched when her small, warm hand slid up and down his belly, gently scratching and evoking goosebumps to form on his skin.

"Damn, baby girl. Got a knife in my hand here."

"Good thing I didn't move my hand south then, huh?" she giggled against his back, making him chuckle and his dick twitch traitorously inside his pants.

"Yeah, might have lost a finger or a hand then." he grinned. "Now, get back to bed. Don't strain yourself."

"Don't wanna. I miss being close to you." she pouted.

"Later. Come on. Gotta be reasonable here. First you rest and eat." he told her in what he hoped was a stern tone. He couldn't wait to be close to her either, but her health came first.

"When did you become Mr. Grown Up?" Bay laughed and gently pinched his belly, before she listened to him and hobbled back to bed.

"Guess sometimes there just ain't a way around it. I know ya feel better, but you're far from healed, Bay. We need to watch out for that. That's first priority from now on. Told your nurse Imma get you healthy again, and I will do whatever it takes to get you there as fast as possible."

"I know." she replied, before she giggled a little. "But you can't blame me for making it a bit harder on you. You are just so cute when you get all exasperated."

Daryl looked at her over his shoulder and smirked in his unique crooked way. "Careful, sweetheart. I got the memory of an elephant, you know that. If you misbehave you **will **get a spankin' one of these days."

His words made her shiver. She had always toyed with the idea of him doing that to her in her head. She knew it was oh so wrong, but deep down the fantasy excited her. She wasn't sure though if she ever wanted to make it come true. She shook herself out of it and decided to change the topic. "Almost done? I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah." he smiled and came walking back to the bed shortly after she had asked. He handed her the plate before he leaned down and kissed her deeply. "Fucking happy you're here, baby girl. Fucking love ya." he murmured while resting his forehead against hers.

"I love you, too. Always will."

Daryl smiled and carefully crawled over her to sit next to her. He played with her hair while she ate and fed him his part of the sandwich. He kept doing it when she cuddled back into his arms. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he grinned when he had accomplished his mission of having lulled her into sleep quickly. If she didn't want to rest, he would simply make her. It also gave him a chance to close his eyes for a moment. The last couple of weeks hadn't exactly been sleep-filled for him either. Now that she was safely back in his arms, sleep came pretty quickly to him and within a couple of minutes, he had joined her in dream land, where they both got some much needed rest.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>

**Short update before the weekend. It might be the last update until after Christmas. I think until Christmas I will devote a little more of my writing time to "Beautiful Rain" (second chapter should be out either today or on the weekend) just to get the ball rolling and get a couple more chapters out on that one. It's the best kind of therapy for me and it's truly a passion project, so it might be my top priority updating wise until I feel a bit better. **

**Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews. You guys seriously make my day over and over again. I hope you are all enjoying Christmas time and are binging on cookies and hot chocolate with cream and cinnamon.**

**I love you all!**


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